Pune stun Chennai

Chennai Super Kings batsman Aaron Finch hits one down the ground during their IPL match against Pune Warriors at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune on Monday. PHOTO: CRICINFO

On Monday night in Chennai, Pune Warriors did most of the basics wrong against the much-fancied Chennai Super Kings, but still won by a huge margin.
Riding on Aaron Finch's 67 off 45 and Steven Smith's unbeaten 39 off 16, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar impeccable swing at the top of the defence, Warriors pulled off the upset. The basics might not have been got right, but there was enough of the spectacular from the three aforementioned gentlemen.
The first ball Finch faced he drilled back past Dirk Nannes for four. He would hit seven more fours in the Powerplay. With a short back lift and a punch packed behind them. Robin Uthappa at the other end, though, fumbled his way to nine off 12 after the Powerplay. The singles didn't come, Uthappa kept struggling, but Finch kept hitting enough boundaries to take this stand to the best opening for Warriors ever.
Then came on R Ashwin's spin and Chris Morris' bustle, and Warriors lost their way. In going from 96 for 0 to 128 for 4, they consumed 29 balls and looked set for a below-par total, especially after the 18th over produced just three runs. However, Smith had other ideas. He went crazy against Nannes and Dwayne Bravo, reverse-flicking the latter for a huge six over third man in the final over. Twenty-eight came off those last two overs, but this was still a strictly fighting total.
Under Bhuvneshwar's swing, the total grew a leg. With his second delivery, he trapped S Anirudha with an inswinger. He looked like he could get Suresh Raina with each of the remaining deliveries of that wicket-maiden. Catches kept getting dropped but Bhuvneshwar nipped out Raina soon.

SCORES IN BRIEF
PUNE WARRIORS: 159/5 in 20 overs (Finch 67, Smith 39 no; Morris 2/25, Bravo 2/35)
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: 135/8 in 20 overs (Badrinath 34, Jadeja 27; Kumar 2/12, Dinda 2/34)
Result: Pune Warriors won by 24 runs